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October 31, 2007

I am hooked! We had a blast that day with Trish and all the girls and I continue having fun as I put together another rolodex for Christmas. Now so far I'm just building the foundation - I haven't added a lot of pictures or journaling yet... But my plan is to add some pictures about this years Christmas & last years and then continue to add some every year.

Here are some of the pictures. You can see more in this photo album. I'm using Making Memories word fetti, Making Memories cardstock stickers and the new Daisy D paper and embellishments.

October 29, 2007

It's my month for stamp club so I need to get my order figured out for what I want? I've been really enjoying our stamp club meetings. We've learned something new everytime. Its funny to see thing up close and personal that you may not have liked in the catalog but once seen in a project you love them.

Here is the mirror image card we made. On glossy cardstock you run one color over half the card with your brayer and then another color over the other half. Then you run the brayer along your stamped image to create to create the mirrored side and stamp as normal with the stamp to get the top side. Pretty cool

Then we did a napkin holder - really cute idea for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday as even placecards.

It's a 5 X 12 " sheet of decorative stamping up paper folded up and held with brads and then corner rounded at the top. Then we wrapped ribbon around and punched a hole in the center of the scalloped circle to bring the ribbon through and tie the knot. Very quick and simple, yet looks great!

Our final project was one of my favorites. We took a regular paper bag and cut it down. Then decorated two pieces of cardstock (approx 5 1/2 X 5 1/2) but it would depend on your bag size. Then we punched holes in the top for handles and taped that to the bag. So cute!

Oh my gosh! This is why I love the web, I love links and finding different sites with different information. It leads us to places we might never have known of and I for one am glad I found this information to pass along and maybe help others (including my mother who has the most beautiful handwriting but will not write in her scrapbooks because if its not perfect she tears it up)

This morning while I was doing my cruise through blogland I stopped at a usual stop Ali Edwards blog and found the link to an old post in

This precious album was made by my Great Aunt Thyra, and includes photos sent to her by my Grandma (captioned in her hand.) The spread features images from 1922, when they were both young, newly married and evidently (from the looks of things) enjoying a healthy social life.

The book has been well-loved. It shows normal wear and tear but, aside from the fading and the fashions the album itself could have been assembled yesterday. Its black paper pages with handwritten captions are a classic.

Spending time in family history has helped me identify some parameters and elements of style that I want to keep in mind as I craft my own album pages.

These are the lessons I've learned:

1) Words matter

Even a simple caption can reveal so much about the photo's subject and its author. In the antique album above, it's clear that my Grandma and Great Aunt shared a great sense of humor. One picture of three large women in swimsuits was captioned "2,000 lbs. = 1 ton." Another image of the three, conterpart men read: "Fat between the lean." "Four Chicago aristocrats" was written above another picture of cousins who had moved. Humor revealed. Love it.

2)Hand lettering is best

To read the hand-written notes or recognize a distinct penmanship of a close family member no longer living is like seeing a little bit of them again; as though we reconnect with them, quite literally. I recently told someone that I am learning to like my own penmanship, but the fact is, it doesn't matter whether I like it or not. Somebody who loves me likes it and will love seeing it when I am gone.

3) Simplicity = timelessness

There is merit in keeping close to classic forms when organizing memories for storytelling. I'd like to think that 85 years from now someone might look through the stories I am capturing today and feel that same sense of timelessness. I want that person to feel as though it might be them posing with friends, or showering love on their own small child, so that we might through generations, share these universal relational emotions. I think some color, pattern, or texture is okay as long as it enhances the story, maintains the focus and preserves the message. After all, this is 2007, not 1922, and we live in color; not black and white.

4) I'm more than the narrator

One of my Aunt's albums contained some pictures of an old boyfriend. Since she never married, this was a part of her life I was always curious about. With no comments on her pages she leaves me still wondering. I want to share my thinking on my pages and my interpretations as well as the subject matter. These are my memories after all, and one can only operate from their own perspective. I like thinking of my pages as little love letters. Who doesn't enjoy reading love letters?

5) Identify surroundings, time and place

Okay, this one's obvious. While looking at a group of pictures from a family hike, my Mom was hard pressed to remember where exactly we were that autumn day. I think the bigger picture here might be simply that we were a family who did take hikes together, but it would be nice to know where and when too. I know I am completely guilty of setting pictures aside for notes later on which never happen. Something to work on.

6) Include programs and ephemera

My father's album (made by my Grandma) was more of a true book of scraps, containing clippings, autographs, dance cards and promotional pieces from performances. So much was revealed to me in these small bits. This young man was literally a person that I did not know. I learned that he was among the top young musicians in Western PA at the time. He played for a "youth social" while home on leave from Italy during WWII. I didn't even know he had ever visited Italy. I found postcards from the Hospital ship on which he was stationed. Very telling. Very enlightening. It doesn't all have to be archival.

7) leave pictures alone

I loved seeing not only how we all used to dress at family Christmas parties, but little things in the background like my Grandparents' wallpaper pattern and the make-shift hutch (was that linoleum on top?) in their kitchen. Or on summer beachy weekends the way it was grassy and lush before we made our way down to the sandy dunes. These things are more than just backgrounds, they are part of the overall story. Going forward, I want to be respectful of the whole story. Don't close-crop out the good stuff.

From the Longaberger Homestead!

Joel and I went out to dinner since Zach had slept over his cousin Cameron's house and Chel and Ben were watching a movie. When we came home I found this in my bedroom on my bed. Have you ever seen a basket this enormous?I don't think the pictures even begin to show the size of this thing!

I'm going to order a piece of glass for it and make it a table in my family room! Isn't this just the coolest!

October 27, 2007

I think its safe to post this now since the luncheon is today and they are in California. I wanted to make something special for my aunts 70th so I decided to make one of my candy bar poems. I've made them for several years now on special occassions for both friends and family. I usually put all the candy bars in something that pertains to the person, but since this had to travel to California I wanted to put it in something sturdier. So I found this bucket at Hollos and began making my gift.

Not the greatest picture of the bucket...

Here is the poem I wrote her:

Dear Aunt Joyce,

This is your day! TAKE 5 because you need no REISEN

To celebrate and turning 70 is nothing to SNICKER about.

In fact, this is when you have BUTTERFINGERS

And your mind starts playing TWIX on you.

You’re WHATCHAMACALLIT isn’t working properly,

You’ll do things NOW & LATER

And forget them both.

You’ll even begin to swear on PAYDAYS that

You made 100 GRAND when in fact

It was only SKITTLES.

So when looking back on the days of your life,

Remembering all the SMARTIES and NERDS

And those AIRHEADS on 5th AVENUE.

Think of the fun shared with your friends

And all the CHUCKLES you shared with your

3 MUSKATEERS and MR GOODBAR.

Because whether at the SNO CAPS or a SYMPHONY

You’ve been a LIFESAVER to so many.

Hope your birthday leaves you with GOOD N PLENTY.

Happy Birthday

Love, Tina

Then my cousin was also making her a scrapbook, so we all sent a page to help fill the book.

That was probably the last time I was able to wear overalls?

I put more recent pictures and my journaling in the pocket that comes out of the picture. This was part of my September Work in Progress Kit

I love to tell the stories life creates, the things that connect us all. Life is about unraveling, a continuous cycle until you find yourself whole. Blessed with a strong marriage of thirty years, finding our way through life with the loss of our son. Privileged to have two loving grown children. A wordsmith of simple stories that loves to get lost in photography. Running keeps me as stress free as possible. Enjoy performing random acts of kindness...